Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 11

It was a week before I saw Paul again. I busied myself with work and Van Gogh. I felt bad when I came home after my shifts and he was waiting for me on the front porch. I'd sit on the floor and play tug-of-war with him with a rope toy, and sometimes he'd even let me win.

"Van Gogh," I cooed at him, scratching his back. He involuntarily rolled over onto his back, and as I scratched his stomach, I reached for his toy to tease him. "Look what I…"

I stared at the toy squirrel in my hand as Van Gogh jumped up, barking at me. The toy squirrel wasn't a toy…

"Ewww!" I shrieked, running to the door. "Sticky shoelaces," I cursed flinging it away from me.

"Shit! Did you just throw a dead squirrel at me?" Paul yelled, squatting on his heels.

"Sticky shoelaces, sticky shoelaces," I cringed, my hands shaking. How was it possible that I touched a dead squirrel? How was it possible that I didn't smell it?

"This way…" Warm hands were guiding me to the kitchen sink. Paul picked up the bottle of hand soap and pumped a generous amount into my hands.

"Uh…" I stuttered as he stood behind me and lathered my hands with soap.

"Did you say… sticky shoelaces?" he asked causally – like we do this all the time.

"Yes, when we were little, Rebecca and I would make up curses because we weren't allowed to say bad words."

"You can't curse like a grown up now?" he smirked.

"I can't," I huffed. "I feel really awkward unless I'm…"

"What?"

"Why are you even here?" I asked, desperately hoping the subject to change.

"Emily wanted to invite you over for dinner, but she didn't have your number," he said, turning off the water and using a towel to dry my hands.

"Oh…" I felt extremely guilty for not calling her.

"And to apologize for last week."

"I'd already forgotten," I stepped away from him, noticing the drastic change in temperature. "Do you feel sick?" I reached to feel his neck.

"Nope, feel great. Let's go," he moved for the door.

"Now? I need to change and-"

"No, you're beautiful. Let's go," he motioned with a wave.

"O-okay," I stammered, grabbing my purse and slipping on my shoes.

I'm such an irrational dope.

…

"Why are we here? I thought we were going to Emily's?"

"Yeah, but I thought that you might like a night out. When was the last time you had pizza?"

I stayed silent trying to remember.

"Okay, I don't have eternity to sit here. Let's go," he pushed open his truck door, and I followed him reluctantly.

When we walked in about half of the people in the restaurant were staring at us, and I couldn't help but move a step closer toward Paul so that I was semi-hidden behind him.

"Where've you been, Paul? I haven't seen ya for a while…" asked an older guy at a table close to us.

"Around… been busy," Paul answered shortly. The man nodded, unsurprised by his answer and then he turned his head to look at me.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be around either – who's your girl?"

"Rachel Black," I spoke – surprisingly – stepping out from behind Paul. "And we're…" I stammered, trying to tell him that Paul and I weren't together.

"-we're late for dinner. See ya around," Paul nodded goodbye, moving toward the back of the restaurant to an outside patio.

"Papa papa!" the little girl screamed running up to Paul. Now that I was really paying attention, it did sound like she was saying 'paw-paw'…

"Hey Jo, how's it going?"

"Boring," she pouted.

"Boring?" Paul picked her up, cradling her on his waist. "Have you met my friend Rachel? She's definitely not boring."

"Nooo," she hid her face in his neck.

"She's right here," he nudged her until she picked her head up. "Say hi."

"Hi."

"Hi," I smiled. "I'm Rachel, what's your name?"

"Jo."

"Jo? I have a nephew named Joe."

"Jo is a girl's name," she said matter-of-factly. "Can I get down now?"

"Jo…" Paul said in a warning tone.

"I have to use the potty…" she warned before he let her down.

"It's okay," I shrugged, hoping he would just let it go. I've been snubbed by kids before, and I didn't want him to linger over my rejection.

"Huh," he hummed watching Jo walk back to her mother.

A light tugging on my sweatshirt made me turn around to see the little boy from the grocery store… dressed as a butterfly.

"Hello?"

"What kind of pizza do you want Miss Rachel?"

"Oh, uh cheese…" Cheese was easy and simple. I didn't want to tell him I wanted a Hawaiian barbeque pizza and have him think I was insane. His sister probably thought I was boring…

"Hey Rachel," Emily came over to us smiling, and I immediately felt ten times guiltier than before.

"Hey, I'm sorry I haven't called. I've just been busy…"

"Oh it's fine, how's your new job?"

"Great, it's really nice."

"Mommm, I was talking to Miss Rachel. She wants cheese…" he gave her a pointed look. I definitely was wrong by going simple.

"She can have whatever kind she wants. Now take your sister to the restroom and make sure she washes her hands," she shooed him away. "Sorry, the guys get… intense about pizza."

Paul cleared his throat at her, and they shared a strange look.

"Well, just find a seat. The sooner you sit down, the sooner you get to order."

Paul pulled out a chair for me to sit in before sitting down in the chair next to it. Paul was different like that. He would start to do something chivalrous but not follow through with it. Or maybe it was subtle way of telling me what to do…

On the other side of me was another clone – big, brawny, and Quileute like Paul and Seth. He looked familiar, but he hadn't moved to look at me. There were several other familiar faces and more children seated around the table; it almost seemed like a family reunion.

"Embry, what's wrong with you?" Emily asked, and the image of a boy going through my underwear drawer popped into my head.

"Embry Cal?" I nearly growled at him.

"No," he flinched away from me.

"You stole my underwear and took it to school and gave them to Blake Stoolings," I punched his arm. For the semester of my senior year, I was humiliated even though I tried my best to get over it.

"I'm sorry! It was a dare!"

"Stop laughing," I elbowed Paul. "It's not funny." He continued to laugh loudly, his whole body was shaking and his eyes were watering.

"I dared him," he choked out.

"What? You little…" I was so pissed I couldn't find words to curse him with. Here I was falling for Paul's weird charm-thing, and of course he's a jerk.

"What? What am I?" he smiled.

"An asshole," I whispered, turning away from him. I picked up a menu and searched for a barbeque pizza.

"Rachel…"

"Not now," I sighed in relief. There was a barbeque pizza….

"I got the veggie in. Anyone else ready to order?" asked a man, wiping his hands on his apron. "Oh hi, I'm Jared, half owner of JK's," he smiled proudly at me, shaking my hand.

"Rachel Black… who's the other half?"

"My other half, Kim. She's the whale over there," he thumbed to a pregnant woman in the corner.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, you ready to order?"

"Yeah, um I don't mean to complicate things, but is there a way to combine two of your specials into one pizza?" I asked, hoping I wasn't being a terrible customer.

"Sure which ones?"

"The barbeque and the Hawaiian?"

His face fell, and he looked at Paul expectantly. "Should I make two separate pies or just make an extra large?"

"Whatever is easier on you," Paul shrugged.

"What just happened?" I mumbled confused.

"You're going to fit in just fine," Embry grinned, shaking his head.

AN: um i wouldn't try a hawaiian barbeque pizza, i think my brother's girlfriend's grandmother loves pineapple-barbeque pizza, so that's where that came from...

More to come with this lot in the next chapter, im sorry chapters are so short :/ but I'm working on it!

Thanks for Reading!